bridgehit_0137_mac.jpg The ship crosses under a fog covered Bay Bridge next to the very same tower that it struck on it's way out of the Bay. (tower on it's left). The Hanjin container ship, Cosco Busan. A large section of the shipwas damage when it came in contact a bridge tower leaving a scare on the hull about 150 feet long. Michael Macor / The Chronicle Photo taken on 11/7/07, in San Francisco, GA, USA less

bridgehit_0137_mac.jpg The ship crosses under a fog covered Bay Bridge next to the very same tower that it struck on it's way out of the Bay. (tower on it's left). The Hanjin container ship, Cosco Busan. A ... more

Photo: Michael Macor

Photo: Michael Macor

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bridgehit_0137_mac.jpg The ship crosses under a fog covered Bay Bridge next to the very same tower that it struck on it's way out of the Bay. (tower on it's left). The Hanjin container ship, Cosco Busan. A large section of the shipwas damage when it came in contact a bridge tower leaving a scare on the hull about 150 feet long. Michael Macor / The Chronicle Photo taken on 11/7/07, in San Francisco, GA, USA less

bridgehit_0137_mac.jpg The ship crosses under a fog covered Bay Bridge next to the very same tower that it struck on it's way out of the Bay. (tower on it's left). The Hanjin container ship, Cosco Busan. A ... more

(11-07) 14:44 PST SAN FRANCISCO - A container ship bound for South Korea struck a tower base of the west span of the Bay Bridge today, tearing a gash in the hull and spilling fuel in the bay but sparing the bridge any damage, officials said.

Coast Guard Lt. Anya Hunter said the ship hit the protective shield that covers the concrete base of the second tower west of Yerba Buena Island about 8:30 a.m. and then bounced off. The ship, an 810-foot vessel named the Cosco Busan, hit the base hard enough for the concrete under the shield to inflict a gash 10 feet above the water line and about 160 feet long.

Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said there was no damage to the Bay Bridge and "nobody driving on the bridge would have felt anything" when the ship hit the tower base, more than 200 feet below the bridge deck.

"The bridge is in fine shape," Ney said. The tower base's fender system, which is made of a composite plastic, "performed the way it was designed," he said.

There were no reports of injuries on the ship. Port of San Francisco Capt. William Uberti said the Coast Guard was testing the ship's navigational crew for alcohol and drugs.

"Obviously," he said of the incident, "it shouldn't have happened."

Coast Guard officials said fuel leaked from the gash at the port side of the bow for about half an hour before the Cosco Busan's crew managed to close off the damaged tank and transfer fuel to another part of the ship.

Rob Roberts, a lieutenant with the state Department of Fish and Game, said the 140 gallons of fuel that spilled from the ship will take about a month to clean up. By midday, some fuel had already reached Pier One in San Francisco just north of the Ferry Building.

He said the spill is "something we're worried about."

Hunter added, "One hundred-forty gallons is 140 gallons too much."

Roberts said private companies hired by the ship owner will perform the cleanup.

Some 250 employees of the Port of San Francisco were sent home at noon after the port's offices at Pier One were inundated with fumes from the fuel spill.

"It smells like heavy motor oil. It makes your eyes burn," said Renée Dunn, port spokeswoman. She said the staff was evacuated "for the safety of everybody."

There was no immediate explanation for why the ship hit the tower base.

San Francisco bar pilot John J. Cota was on board the ship when the accident happened, said Pat Moloney, executive director of the San Francisco Bar Pilots Commission. Cota is one of the most experienced of the 60 captains who belong to the bar pilots association, having been a pilot since 1981, Moloney said.

Bar pilots, all veteran captains, guide ships in and out of San Francisco Bay. When a ship is leaving the bay, as the Cosco Busan was today, the vessel's captain has overall responsibility, but the bar pilot is at the controls until the ship clears the San Francisco bar channel, about 15 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Visibility was limited at the time of the accident because of fog, the Coast Guard said. After the incident, the Cosco Busan sailed to Anchorage 9, just off Candlestick Point, to await further orders.

The ship arrived Tuesday at the Port of Oakland, was tied up for 17 hours while taking on a load of containers and then headed out for Pusan, South Korea.

The ship is owned by a Greek firm that is chartering the vessel to Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. of Seoul. Hanjin spokeswoman Sonya Cho said the ship "is operated by the Greek owner and his crew" and that Hanjin "has no responsibility in any matter concerning this accident."

Cho said Hanjin simply operates the cargo portion of the voyage and the crew runs the ship. She said the ship owner will be responsible for paying for the cleanup of San Francisco Bay and the repairs of the ship.

"As far as I know, in a legal sense, if an accident happens, the ship owners are responsible," she said. It was not clear when or where the ship would be repaired or when it will resume its voyage to South Korea, she added.